PROTECT Your Infant Against the Dangers of GERD | Alternative Medicine

By JeffMartin
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Since the 1990s, infant gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or acid reflux has been increasing. From recent data, children between the ages of 3 and 7 endure acid reflux symptoms between 2 and 8% of the time, and for infants the percentage suffering increases to 20%. Those infants afflicted by disabilities of a developmental or neurological type are more at risk to GERD.

To put it simply, acid reflux is when the digestive system does not work properly. The weakening of the LES is most often the reason for this. The LES is the lower esophageal sphincter. When it is too weak to shut off all the stomach contents in the stomach, then those contents flow back into the throat and even up past the larynx to invade the upper air passage. Reflux may also happen under normal digestive backpressure, for example after feeding, coughing, crying, and going to the toilet. Before getting into the causes and menaces of GERD in babies, we'll look quickly at the cause that is local and immediate for this medical ailment. Note that there may also be serious complications of health involved such as infections, ulcers, pain, feeding problems, problems affecting the voice, even cancer.

Many infants "spit up" on a regular basis, which, as vomiting, does not in itself cause discomfort, vomit passing through the mouth or nose. GERD and normal vomiting can be easily mistaken one for the other in infants. Diagnosis of GERD can be a special problem. Because of the limited volume of their esophagus, infants vomit or regurgitate more than adults. To add further difficulty, signs that all may not be well are difficult to see, especially as infants have no way of putting into words what they are feeling.

Further symptoms can include belly pain, enlargement of the adenoids, chronic coughing, infections of the middle ear, asthma, anemia, spitting up of blood (known as hematemesis), a sibilant breathing sound, croup that repeats, arching of the spine and inflamed nose and /or sinus. When your infant falls victim to GERD, a number of further symptoms such as these appear. For instance, as GERD vomiting is inherently painful, babies who vomit too often will often cry or scream for hours on end or lie awake unable to sleep, a strong indication that they might be suffering from this.

That justifies early diagnosis and treatment, prerequisites for your infant to stay safe and well. Making an appointment with a gastroenterologist or an ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor is the best solution for getting the proper diagnosis for your child. The danger of ignoring acid reflux in infants is that it may lead to serious complications as well. An infant who comes to think that feeding means pain may refuse breastfeeding and lose body mass. Potentially grave conditions such as erosive esophagitis can also be brought on by gastroesophageal reflux disease.

If the doctor's diagnosis is of GERD, then parents have to choose a treatment. There are three possibilities of remedies for an infant with gastroesophageal reflux disease: surgical; medicaments (over the counter or prescription); or a holistic remedy.

Surgical solutions are rarely implemented, because of the threat of serious complications exceeding those of acid reflux itself. A surgical procedure called Nissan Fundoplication is one option, the goal being to reduce looseness in the channel between the esophagus and stomach.

Prescription medicaments are also to be avoided for the following reasons: 1. Medications try to address the GERD symptoms (such as production of acid) but neglect root causes, such as lifestyle, dietary and internal triggers and factors. 2. For adults and therefore even more so for infants, medications have certain risks. Reglan and bethanechol for example have not been testing for babies as prescribed reflux medications. Cisapride with its severe secondary effect of heart arrythmia had to be removed from sales. Other common medications have even more serious secondary effects, including pneumonia and Tourette's syndrome 3. Any kind of medication can cause dependency, and infants are particularly at risk concerning their autoimmune system that is still growing with the baby.

Recent scientific writing shows the advantage of all natural holistic cures of GERD. Studies by Rudolph, Mazur and Liptak also available in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology indicated that moving from cow's milk formula to a formula based in casein hydrolysate could be better for babies who "spit up". Other studies done by Ravelli, Tobanelli and Volpi which appeared in the same Journal in 2001, showed that formula using on cow's milk can mean delay in gastric emptying in infants who have an allergy to milk proteins. For infants with GERD, breastfeeding is a clear winner compared to any formula for babies, because milk from the breast helps to speed up digestive transit and improve overall digestion.

Therefore, the holistic solution offered by holistic medicine, which adopts as a priority the protection of your baby from gastroesophageal reflux disease can be the best choice in the long term for safety and for effectiveness. The conclusions above as well as many others, reinforce conclusions that infant GERD is not just a local ailment (going further than just the esophagus), but in fact that it is the whole human body which is affected by elements that are concerned with the environment, diet and internal factors.

Did anyone tell you that the best way to protect your infant from the pain and suffering of GERD symptoms is to select a holistic treatment in conjunction with real moves towards a natural lifestyle and diet?

About the Author

Jeff Martin is a certified nutritionist and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, Heartburn No More . To Learn More About Jeff Martins Unique Holistic Acid Reflux Cure System Visit: Infant GERD

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